Marvel & Disney/Pixar Date Mystery Movies For 2013 & 2014

In a move today that is sure to light up speculation among comic and animation fans, Marvel and Disney/Pixar have planted their flags on dates on the 2013 and 2014 calendar for some mystery films that they aren’t revealing just yet (though we’re likely to find out at D23 which arrives very, very soon).

So let’s start with Marvel shall we? The studio has pegged May 16, 2014 and June 27, 2014 for two yet-to-be named films. So what could they be? Well recent talk has surrounded “Ant-Man,” “Dr. Strange” and “Guardians Of The Galaxy” as each project has moved forward in their development stages, but we think Marvel is going to be moving very carefully on those B-level characters so our educated guess is: a movie from one of those new characters and a “Captain America” sequel. Both “Thor 2” and “Iron Man 3” arrive in 2013 and we’d be surprised if they pushed a sequel to “The Avengers” before “Captain America” but as always, anything can happen.

Meanwhile Pixar has lined up May 30, 2014 for…something. It’s their second mystery date announced this year, with another project slated for November 27, 2013 so your guess is as good as ours. Meanwhile, Henry Selick is hard at work on a new film that first surfaced last year. It’s being co-written by Selick and former IndieWire scribe Mike Jones and as usual, plot details are under wraps, but with an October 4, 2013 date, we’re expecting something spooky.

And now for something completely different, the Jason Statham flick “Parker” will arrive on October 12, 2012. So does Taylor Hackford have another Oscar contender on his hands or is this just awards season counterprogramming? Probably the latter. The thriller is based on the character created by Donald E. Westlake and rather than being based on any single book, the novel “Flashfire” with the adaptation being handled by John J. McLaughlin, who co-wrote “Black Swan.” Jennifer Lopez, Clifton Collins Jr. and Nick Nolte co-star in the film which is now filming.